Bring Him Home (previously titled "The Child Who Was Silent") by Nicole Trope
Genre: Mystery, Crime thriller, Women's fiction, General fiction
Read: 15th March 2021
Published: 30th March 2021
★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
Where is he? Where’s my beloved child with his father’s blue eyes and a halo of golden curls? My little boy is out there on his own. Please keep him safe, I silently beg, please, please just keep him safe.
‘Your son is missing,’ they say, and life as I know it is over. ‘Where would he go?’ the police ask. ‘Where would he be?’ my daughter begs.
My heart races as images flash in my mind. The cabin we rent every autumn, surrounded by fiery red maple trees. Voices raised. Tears falling. A marriage falling apart. And worst of all my husband telling our child, Theo, to run.
The rest is a blank in my memory. If I close my eyes I can almost see it. A betrayal that has left me alone, in tatters, grieving for what we had.
It wasn’t meant to be like that. It should have been precious time as a family, with boardgames, walks in the mountain and pancakes for breakfast.
Instead my little one is has vanished. ‘They are looking for him,’ the nurse told me, ‘but the storm is slowing down the search.’
The police think Theo has the answers, that he knows what tore our family apart. But I have no idea where he is. No clue if he is safe. I won’t survive unless I bring him home. But if I do, and the truth comes out, will I survive that?
A completely gripping, beautifully written and totally heartbreaking page-turner, which examines what happens behind closed doors, and the secrets that can shatter a family. Fans of Jodi Picoult, Diane Chamberlain and Liane Moriarty will be totally addicted to this breathtaking novel.
MY REVIEW:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Nicole Trope's emotional tale BRING HIM HOME (formerly titled "The Child Who Was Silent").
As a fellow Australian, I am a huge fan of Nicole Trope and am always looking forward to the next one (though I still haven't read them all...lol) Her books are based in Sydney and/or the Blue Mountains both of which I am familiar with and, although some places she does fictionalise, the areas about which she writes I can visualise. In BRING HIM HOME, the village of Mt Watson is fictional and possibly a play on the actual area Mt Wilson, particularly as one of the character's surnames is Wilson.
I also have to say that the original title "The Child Who Was Silent" I believe is a far better title than BRING HIM HOME because while it is a mystery, it is also Theo's story. And Theo is the child who was silent. I think they should have left the title as is.
The story opens with a young woman, Amber, lost in the bush and trying to find her way out. She comes across a cabin and hopes they will be able to help her find her way out. She knocks. There is no answer. The door is slightly ajar so she pushes it open whilst calling out "Hello?" She ventures into the living area and cannot believe what her eyes are seeing. A man lays prone on a cream rug with a woman seated beside him, holding a knife. Amber screams and flees the scene, calling for help immediately.
It is clear from the beginning that something has terrible happened at the cabin that day but Cecelia cannot remember anything. She remembers her and Nick arguing, something they have done a lot of in recent times, and then her husband telling her son "Run, Theo! Get help!" But why did he tell him to run? Was Nick scared? Of who? Of her? The police certainly think she stabbed him and now she is being held for attempted murder. But she loves Nick - why would she stab him? But she was found holding the knife. But try as she might, Cecelia cannot recall what actually happened. She only remembers fragments. It's like a sheet of opaque glass has been erected in her brain, preventing her from remembering. The psychiatrist they had come see her told her that it was her brain's way of protecting her. Protecting her from what? What does she need protecting from? The truth? That she DID stab Nick? But it's hopeless...no matter how much she tries she just cannot remember. And even if she could remember, she couldn't tell them anyway because when she opens her mouth to talk nothing comes out. Cecelia has become silent, just like Theo.
Her beloved Theo. Where is he? Nick told him to run and get help...but it's cold and raining relentlessly out there and Theo doesn't like shoes. He doesn't wear them. So he will be out in the cold, the dark and with no shoes to protect his feet from the bush. The police tell her they have a search party out there looking for him but with thie relentless rain it is hindering the search for him. She and Nick have always told Theo to shelter in place, they have instilled it in him. Shelter in place. So with any luck Theo will be sheltering in place somewhere out of the rain until somebody can find him.
Eighty five year old Rose has lived in her bush cabin for most of her life. She lived there with her mother, sister and little brother Lionel. But they have all gone now and it's just Rose. She loves to wake in the morning and hear the bush awaken. The sounds of the birds, the call of the wild. But this morning, Rose hears a different sound. Last night she thought it was possums under the cabin but this morning she's not so sure. Now it's like a keening sound of something, or someone, in distress. As she goes out in her dressing gown to investigate, she sees a shape and tells it "get out of here" but it soon becomes clear that it's a little boy. And he is clearly distressed. She softens her voice and coaxes him out and leads him back inside the cabin where it is warm. He is soaked through and wearing no shoes - he must be frozen to the bone, especially if he has been there all night. She asks him if he is hungry and he nods his head. So she gives him her toast. As Rose observes the boy, she is aware that he is different and not like other children. His behaviour and demeanour are similar to that of her brother Lionel, and society didn't understand him back in those days. But it's with her knowledge and experience with Lionel that she knows how to treat this young boy. She asks him his name and he starts signing rapidly to her. It's been so long she can't keep up with his speed and asks him to slow down. Slowly he spells out his name. Theo.
Rose knows from experience that people like Theo don't like to be touched. Instead she lets him lead. At the moment he is happy eating toast and lining up her sets of knives, forks and spoons. When he gets distressed about the odd number of them, she merely takes away some of the others to make them all the same. She knows people like Theo. When thunder booms loudly overhead, Theo shrieks and hides under the table. Lionel used to do that too. So Rose climbs down and sits under the table with him and, although he doesn't like to be touched, he does allow her to hold him tightly until the thunder subsides. But what to do with the child? What happened to him? Why was he under her cabin? Where were his parents? Someone must be missing him? She asks Theo and he begins to tell her in his broken language that he needs help.
I am Theo. I am help. Dad told me to run, so I ran. I get help. I found Rose. Rose is help. It's wet. I'm cold. I shelter in place. Mum told me "Theo, shelter in place." Dad told me to shelter in place. So I shelter in place. I found Rose. Rose is help. Too many words. Too much noise. I bang my head on the floor to stop the noise. But dad said "Run, Theo. Get help!" I get help. Rose is help.
BRING HIM HOME is a touching, poignant and beautifully written tale centring around Theo, an eleven year old boy with autism. The pace is slow to begin with and it is not until around 50% that the story really comes into itself and from then on I couldn't swipe the pages quick enough to reach the end. At first the reader is thoroughly confused as to what happened in the cabin and it is told in such a way that keeps us in the dark until just the right time. When the pieces began falling into place, I soon put them together so the ending wasn't a surprise. But that didn't deter me from enjoying this beautiful story.
The characters are well developed and are honest as well as vulnerable but completely likeable. While I was frustrated with Cecelia, who could speak, at her sudden silence. Why could she not tell what happened? At least, what she remembers? What was stopping her? Why did she not remember? And why has she suddenly become silent? The daughter Kaycee who came up from Sydney with the barman from the bar she was drinking at in tow to help find her missing brother. I loved Jonah. He was there for Kaycee and he helped with the search...and yet he didn't have to drive her 100+km to the Blue Mountains when she drunkenly asked him to. And he didn't have to stay either...but he did.
But my favourite character was Rose, who lives a secluded life in her cabin in the bush, carrying a trauma of her own from her past that still haunts her. She has a beautiful understanding soul and a heart of gold as she helps the family through her care, kindness and understanding with Theo.
Theo himself was a remarkable character also. Despite his difficulties and the challenges he faces with his autism, he understands what he is meant to do. Despite being out of his comfort zone, he reaches out for help and to help. OMG...there were a couple of times in the book that I was in tears with regards to Theo. I'm not overly maternal and don't generally cry over children but this...I was so moved by one particular scene that I literally bawled. It was so beautiful, so moving and oh so touching I could have cried...and I did.
Nicole has done a wonderful job in encapsulating the world of an autistic child, which must be a feat in itself. They see the world so differently to us that it is so hard to understand just what the world is like through their eyes. I think Nicole captured it beautifully. She made Theo seem so real and so relatable that even the most hardened hearts could have wrapped their arms around him...had he been comfortable with that. I will never hear "This Little Light of Mine" in the same way again.
Although I pieced together the twist and saw it coming, I still thoroughly enjoyed BRING HIM HOME...more than I thought I would. When I began and I found the pace somewhat slow and Theo's narrative very repetitive - but that's how it is in his world - I wasn't sure if I would enjoy the book as much as Nicole's previous ones. But I was wrong. Once that pace picked up and I started piecing things together, I couldn't devour it quick enough.
Beautifully descriptive and tender, BRING HIM HOME will pull at your heart strings and bring tears to your eyes. Have the tissues handy because there are a few scenes in which you will need them, so touching they are.
While BRING HIM HOME is a mystery, the focus is mainly on Theo. It is his story and his journey to get help for his family. It is for this reason I believe the titled should have remained "The Child Who Was Silent"...because he was and he is the focus throughout. It is about learning about Theo, growing with Theo and then searching for Theo. It is about looking at the world through Theo's eyes and about understanding him. He is the child who was silent so for me that title is far more appropriate and fitting.
BRING HIM HOME is the story of a little boy lost, a mother traumatised, a father fighting for his life, and a daughter (who has always felt forgotten) left to pick up the pieces. A beautiful, moving and emotional read that I thoroughly recommend!
I would like to thank #NicoleTrope, #NetGalley, #Bookouture for an ARC of #BringHimHome #TheChildWhoWasSilent in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Nicole Trope went to university to study Law but realised the error of her ways when she did very badly on her first law essay because-as her professor pointed out- ‘It’s not meant to be a story.’ She studied teaching instead and used her holidays to work on her writing career and complete a Masters’ degree in Children’s Literature. After the birth of her first child she stayed home full time to write and raise children, renovate houses and build a business with her husband.
The idea for her first published novel, The Boy under the Table, was so scary that it took a year for her to find the courage to write the emotional story.
She is now published by Bookouture and is an Amazon top 100 bestseller in the USA, UK, AUS and CAN.
She lives in Sydney with her husband and three children.
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